1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques of installing a suitable device driver, device control application, etc. in order to use a peripheral device, such as a printer etc. that is connected to, for example, a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plug and Play is well known as a technique of incorporating into a computer a device driver for enabling use of a peripheral device such as a printer etc. when the device is connected to a computer.
By employing the Plug-and-Play technology, users are freed from having to install a device driver or adjusting the settings for use of a peripheral device, which it takes a lot of time and effort to do, resulting in a significant improvement in convenience.
Plug and Play for printers that is performed by Windows (trademark), which is an operating system (OS) of Microsoft Corporation (U.S.), obtains identification information from a printer through an interface, such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) or Web Services on Devices (WSD). The OS retrieves an optimum device driver based on the obtained identification information, installs the device driver, and sets the output port to a connection port at which the printer has been detected.
The Windows OS's Plug and Play provides the function of obtaining the model identification information (MDL) of a printer from the printer, searching for a printer driver corresponding to the model identification information (MDL), installing the printer driver, and adjusting settings for the output port. If no printer driver corresponding to the model identification information (MDL) is found, the compatible identification information (CID) of the printer is obtained, a printer driver corresponding to the compatible identification information (CID) is searched for, the printer driver is installed, and the settings for the output port are adjusted.
Thus, a printer driver suitable for a model corresponding to a printer's model identification information (MDL) can be installed with a higher priority. If no printer driver suitable for a model is found, a printer driver common to printers of a family or a class corresponding to a printer's compatible identification information (CID) is introduced.
Note that a related-art technique of using a Plug-and-Play system provided by an operating system, such as that described above is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-013816. In this document, a printer searches for another printer. In this case, if a printer having a device ID for a shared printer driver is found, the device ID for the shared printer driver is returned in response to a request for a device ID in Plug and Play. In this example related-art technique, the printer rewrites the device ID returned in response to the Plug-and-Play request with the device ID for the shared printer driver, whereby the printer to be installed is controlled.
In recent years, there have been many small-screen devices having only a touchscreen, such as a mobile device (e.g., a mobile telephone etc.), a tablet computer, and the like. Therefore, some operating systems have been equipped with a new user interface (UI) environment that is optimized for operation of touchscreens (hereinafter referred to as a “touchscreen UI”). The touchscreen UI optimum for touchscreens provides a button arrangement that can be easily operated using the user's finger. On the other hand, the traditional UI environment in which a mouse or a keyboard is used for selection, instruction, etc., is referred to as a “desktop UI.” There have also been some operating systems that allow the user to manually switch a display from the touchscreen UI to the desktop UI. In order to produce an application that operates on such an operation system, it is necessary to prepare different packages for the different UIs.
On the other hand, the OS imparts compatibility to a printer driver designed for the desktop UI so that the printer driver can be used even when there is a print request from an application for the touchscreen UI. As a result, the user can print using an original printer driver produced for the desktop UI, which is a traditional UI environment, even in an environment of another OS having the touchscreen UI.
A printer driver that is linked to model identification information (MDL) and is provided for each printer model is herein referred to as a “specific driver.” A printer driver that is linked to compatible identification information (CID) and is common to a printer family or class is herein referred to as a “class driver.” An application for using or controlling a peripheral device having a printing, scanning, or faxing function, that is produced as an application operable in the touchscreen UI, is herein referred to as a “device control app.” As described in the “Field of the Invention” section, a Plug-and-Play system in which if no specific driver corresponding to model identification information (MDL) is found, a class driver corresponding to compatible identification information (CID) is introduced, has already been provided. By using this system, even if no specific driver is found in Plug and Play, a suitable class driver can be installed. Also, a necessary printer driver can be installed by the user's simple operation.
However, the specific and class drivers that are introduced by the Plug-and-Play system are not optimum for the touchscreen UI described in the “Field of the Invention” section. For example, to date, the touchscreen UI does not have the function of checking user information when printing is performed using a function, such as the secure print function, the department management function, etc., that is possessed by a printer driver. A pop-up UI that causes a dialog to pop up during printing to prompt the user to enter an input, has a functional limitation, such as necessity of displaying on the desktop UI, that is a traditional UI environment, etc.
The above limitation is not put on device control apps that are produced for the touchscreen UI. However, there is no simple system, such as Plug-and-Play, for introducing a device control app. Therefore, it is disadvantageously necessary for the user to install a device control app corresponding to each printer model by himself or herself.